On Friday, January 30th, 2015, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School held its final competition for this year’s Poetry Out Loud Contest. The event took place at Bemis Hall in Lincoln, with the generous hospitality of the Lincoln Council on Aging.
Poetry Out Loud is a program supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, who have partnered with state arts agencies of the United States to encourage the nation’s youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.
The students who performed in the LS finals were Caroline March, Isabel Anderson, Zoe Belge, Abby Wight, Elise Hinkle, Helen Rhines, Mikala Nims, Emily Thomas, Smaragda Chala, Leah Kanzer and Kendall Dawson. Winner Elise Hinkle will go on to regional semifinals in March. If she moves on, finals will be held in Boston in March.
Senior Nicholas Laviolette also entertained the audience with readings of his original poetry.
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The judges for the event included Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee members Patty Mostue (Lincoln) and Radha Gargeya (Sudbury). Also judging were Colt Navins, the Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager of Cambridge Trust Company in Lincoln, and Julia Moskowitz, a former LS student and teacher. LS English teacher Susan Frommer was the accuracy judge for both the semifinals and the finals.
Organized at Lincoln-Sudbury by English Teacher Danielle Weisse for this fourth year, Poetry Out Loud involved approximately 200 students in 20 English classes. 25 of those competed in the semi-finals held at the LS Auditorium on Wednesday, January 7th, 2015. Judges included
the following faculty members: Shawn Lingley, Desiree Butter, Brendan Wimberly, Susan King, Kayla DeWees, Alison Sanders-Fleming, Susan Frommer, Jennifer Garfield, and Erica Wilsen.
Also Peter Elenbaas, Athletic and Activities Director, and
poetry-lover and Superintendent-Prinicipal Bella Wong joined us as judges.
Snacks were provided by the LS Cambodian Memorial-Sister School project.
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Each winner at the state level will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip with an adult chaperone to Washington, D.C., to compete for the national championship. A total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends will be awarded at the National Finals.The winner of the National Poetry Out Loud Contest wins $20,000.
